The Wheels of Fate
by Writing Jet
Summary: Ragna suddenly wakes up in what he beleives is a Train, and it is up to him to get out of there and find out what's the reason behind it all. Beware, originally a crack fic. T for foul Language. etc.
1. Beginning

An idea that began as a crack fic, but I decided to take more seriously. For once, I have to have more than one chapter, and no drunken bitches raining from the sky! Oh well, do enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Blazblue, trains, or anything at all.

* * *

Nothing. That was all he could see right now. The last thing he remembered was enjoying a meal at Orient Town's usual restaurant, with the company of Taokaka. Yes, that one glutton. They had become better friends over the weeks, and eating at that restaurant had become a daily thing…as long as Taokaka managed to gain enough money to pay for herself.

But now, Ragna asked himself, where was he? As he got used to his surroundings, he began to see what was around him, if only faintly. He stood up, taking a deep sigh.

"What the hell is this place…"

He scrambled along the area, and managed to find a small light switch. The room lit up before him. He placed a hand over his forehead to block out the sudden surge of light. It looked like…a storage cabin. The sort you'd see in…

"Am I…in a train?"

The cabin was quite small in size, and had but a few boxes in it. Ragna noticed his sword wasn't with him, and suddenly he felt uncomfortable. How had he gotten there? Why hadn't he just been killed instead? He scourged a few of the nearby boxes, and got his hands on a crowbar. He reluctantly decided that would have to do. He went towards the door and…

"Tch. Bastard's locked…I'll just have to kick it down!"

*TWACK* *TWACK* *TWACK*

"Shit! This door's sturdy as hell! …Well, there must be something I can use to open this…"

Ragna used the crowbar to open the, to him, previously impossible to unlock doors. There was a small box with a dial to input a password, and a jigsaw puzzle's pieces in one of the boxes.

"Who's the bitch that's making me do all this shit! God damn, I hate jigsaw puzzles!"

Ragna cracked his brain, and began to work on the jigsaw puzzle. It took him an approximate of…10 minutes. He could make out the number 1231. He dialed it into the box swiftly.

*Click*

"Hell yeah, it opened!"

And there, there was a key. He was glad this shit was over. He wasn't one for thinking a lot. He tried it out on the door and…yes, it worked! As he twisted the knob, crowbar in hand, Ragna was determined to find out just what the hell was going on.

As he got out of the small prison he had unwillingly been thrown in, Ragna found himself in a small hallway. There was but a dim light on the ceiling. It was quite a narrow hallway. Ragna was further convinced by the scene that he was on a train. He looked out the window…but it seemed to have been sealed off by some metal plate. He could see not a thing of the outside world. Satisfied with his search, he opened the door to the next room…

* * *

…

"Good guy! GOOD GUY, HELP ME!"

"Ah shit."

Before Ragna, was Taokaka. It seems they had both been dragged along for this messed up ride. It made sense, though. Given the circumstances, however…he couldn't be that happy just yet. Taokaka was tied to some weird device in the ceiling, and there was some...Fish Soup in a giant pot? The smell filled the entire room, and Ragna was getting nauseous.

"Okay Tao, don't worry. I'll get you down and-"

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

"What the fuck does this train want now!"

"Good guy! TAO DOESN'T LIKE THIS MEOW!"

Ragna would've expected Tao to slowly descend into the boiling pot…but instead, the pot was slowly being raised upwards. Huh. The result would be the same, he guessed. Maybe the kidnapper wanted to be more…original?

"Good guy! Stop thinking about stupid crap and bring me down meow!"

She was right. A hot, steaming pot of fish soup was going to burn Taokaka to death! Ragna had to think, and fast. He glanced over the room quickly…There were no crates, or furniture at all. All he could see was…a punching bag.

"Hang in there, Tao! I'll be right back!"

Ragna ran over to the punching bag. There was a weird device at the bottom of it. A small paper was taped onto it. Ragna leant over, snatched it, and began reading it quickly.

'To Stop. Remember the 4 basics of boxing. Deliver in this succession.

J C J H U C.'

"What the FUCK? J…C? I know shit about boxing!"

Then Ragna remembered. Before some battles, Taokaka had the habit of shadow-boxing to prepare herself. Maybe…Maybe Taokaka was the answer to this puzzle? Ragna never thought the day he'd depend on Taokaka for an answer would come, but he had no choice. He ran back to Tao. The pot was at least halfway through its rising path of doom.

"Tao! What do you know about Boxing!"

"Beouxing, Meow?"

"No you dumbass, Boxing! Where you punch people in the face and shit!"

"OH! You mean the secret Kaka Special Fighting Technique that has been passed by the Cat Person generation to genera-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP AND TELL ME! THERE'S NO TIME!"

"M-Meow…Okay, meow! In the KAKA SPECIAL FIGHTING TECHNIQUE, the Cat Person told me there were four things I must ALWAYS remember meow!"

"Yeah, yeah. What are they?"

"Jabs, Cross hits, Hooks and Uppercuts! Cat Person says that if I master them, I can beat even Jiuuujitzu masters, meow!"

"Hrm….That's it! Thanks Tao, hang in there!"

Ragna couldn't waste any time. Taokaka was THIS close to being submerged in smelly, hot fish soup. He approached the punching bag machine, and read over the note one more time.

"Jab, Cross, Jab, Hook, Uppercut, Cross. Right? Let's do this shit!"

And so he did. Ragna punched the shit out of the punching bag, he remember Jubei speaking about these very attacks once. It seems they would be useful after all. After delivering the last hit, he head the ever-comforting *Click*. He sighed in relief and turned around. The pot had stopped. A small platform suddenly appeared, and Taokaka's chains broke. Thankfully, she was safe in no time at all.

"You did it, Good Guy! Thaaaaaaaank you, meow!"

"Uh, yeah. Sure. But we can't be happy just yet…Oh, that's right! Do you remember anything from before we got stuck in this mess?"

"Um…nope, meow. I was just eating and eating and eating and eating, as usual!"

Ragna scratched the back of his head. It's not like he expected –Taokaka- of all people to have any answers to this thing. That meant he had not progressed at all. He guessed all they could do for now was move forward.

"Oh, Good Guy! I forgot…I found these in my pocket!"

In Taokaka's paw there were two keys. If Ragna's deduction was correct, they were two keycards. They both had different emblems. He was sure he had seen them before…One looked like a cat's face, so he assumed it to be Taokaka's. On the back, it had a "V".

"Here, I think this is yours."

On the other card, the emblem resembled…his Azure's symbol? That card had to be his. On the back, it had a "III". This perked Ragna's curiosity. If things like these were all custom-made for each of them…this had been planned a while in advance. Just who the hell did this! Ragna had his suspicions, but he didn't know of anyone who would benefit from trapping them two in a train instead of outright killing them. There really was no choice but to move forward…

"All right Tao, let's keep going."

And with that, they headed towards the next door. Ragna could only tighten his grip on his crowbar while thinking about what may lay ahead.

* * *

Weeeell, let's see what happens next, no?

TBC


	2. Confusion

Man it results I am so into this thing. It's so fun making up puzzles and then solving them immediately after~ Thanks to anyone who's reading this.

Disclaimer: I do not own Blazblue, Trains, or anything that holds worth.

* * *

Makoto Nanaya, one of the many Lieutenants of the Novus Orbis Librarium. The Intelligence Department was her assigned role, initially surprising most (if not all) of her classmates. With her usual cheery demeanor she explained that being hyper and playful did not mean one couldn't be smart. As Tsubaki Yayoi, one of her best friends, confronted her on her mediocre excuses for tests, Makoto just shrugged and told her tests were not all that could gauge intelligence. There was much more to it than a simple "A+".

But that had been on graduation day. It had been many months since that day. And although Makoto managed to keep in contact with her close friends, she was still forced to spend most of her days alone, indulged in her work. Yes, she was a double agent. Makoto had never liked many of the things the NOL did. That's why she had decided to side with Sector Seven, in her own way. Why was she thinking about this now anyways? All she had to worry about was the chestnut parfait that was on its way.

"Chestnut Parfait!"

"Over here! Ohmygosh it looks amazing!"

The waiter, who seemed oddly familiar to her, took it to her immediately, bowed, and hoped her a good day. Makoto did the same, barely able to contain her excitement. Almost squealing, she took a hold of her spoon and began eating vigorously.

"This. Is! DELI-"

* * *

Makoto woke up in a dark room. She could barely see her surroundings. Why was she here? What happened to her delicious chestnut parfait? She would save those questions for later. Next to her, she saw an unlit candle and some matches.

"Well, if this isn't awfully convenient!"

She smiled as she lit up the match, and subsequently, the candle. She was shocked. She seemed to be in an old school bathroom. Like the sort you'd see in…trains? Makoto was confused. She headed towards the door…and stopped.

"Huh? This…has no knob? How am I supposed to get out!"

The door was made of an evidently sturdy metal, and instead of the knob there was but a steel plate screwed in. Makoto decided to save herself the trouble and just blow it open.

"All…RIIIIIIIII-Huh? Ah! My tonfas are gone!"

It seemed brute force wouldn't get her out of this. Inspecting the door, she deduced all she would need was a screwdriver. She placed the candle on top of the toilet's tank, and began to search the bathroom. Nothing. No loose tiles, no random objects that would help her… All that was left was the toilet. It was old-school. In the sense that to flush the toilet you had to pull a string that was hanging from the ceiling.

"Oh well…Let's see what happens if I-Nyah?"

Makoto pulled on the handle to flush the toilet…but the handle came right off. It didn't seem like she had broken it, more like the handle was too big for that little string…as if she was meant to pull it off. Suddenly, the room went dark once again. Makoto searched around and found the barely visible candle. It had ran out of wax, it seemed. In its place there was...aha!

"Hmm…this looks like a screwdriver! I can probably get out with this!"

Makoto ran towards the door and began unscrewing the first one in her attempt to escape.

_*crack*_

"H-Huh? I-It broke!"

Makoto picked up the small lump of iron from the floor. It seemed like it had, like the handle, easily dislodged itself from the candle's base. In that state, she couldn't use it to unscrew the door. She crossed her arms and began to think.

'So,I need a handle. A handle like…the one I pulled from the string?'

"EUREKA!"

Makoto took the small handle from her pocket, and tried combining both of the pieces. As if it was fate, they fit right in. Makoto jumped in happiness. Then, quickly regaining her composure, she began unscrewing the door. It took her about two minutes, and so she was free.

"Alright! Yay! WOOHOO! Let's see if I can get out of this old wreck!"

And so, Makoto pushed open the door, and stepped forward into the unknown.

* * *

Getting out of the bathroom, she found herself in a really narrow hallway. Makoto was convinced by this that the scene belonged to a train. If she remembered correctly, these narrow hallways connected from a room to the bathrooms. But that itself was a problem. Trains were not supposed to exist in this time and age.

After the Dark War ended, people needed a safe way to go from one Hierarchical city to the other. And because of that, in the beginning trains were to be built connecting the cities. However, because the world had been covered in seithr, building those trains was a very dangerous task. Only about 3 trains had been built before it was concluded that Airships would be a vastly safer way to travel. That meant…they were in one of those old trains? Judging by the structure of the bathroom, it had to be the first of the three that were built, according to the Intelligence Department. The trains had been built old-school to reduce the cost, although only the first one possessed bathrooms like this.

"Hmm. Interesting. While I should investigate this further, I guess all I can do is move forward."

Makoto took a few steps before finding herself in front of the accursed door. She opened it right away, eager to get out of the narrow hallway. On the other side of the door there was a room, like she expected. However, she didn't expect the coffin in the middle of it. Curious, she went towards it.

"Let's see. Oh, look! A paper!"

She cheerily leant over and tore it off from the coffin, and began reading it.

'Inside this coffin is the key to your escape. However, in the same way, this coffin itself is a bomb. In ten minutes, should you fail to open the coffin, it will explode and release a chemical substance which will immediately freeze the room. Your job is to find the object that must be placed in the cavity next to the red button, and press it. You only get one chance. Should you put in the wrong object, the bomb will detonate the moment you press the button. Best of Luck."

_*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*_

At that very moment, a timer began to click.

"DEAR MOTHER OF GOD WHAT DO I DO!"

Makoto panicked. But she soon realized that would do her no good. She tried to calm down. She checked out the cavity besides the red button. It looked like an old-school pocket watch would fit right in. Alright. All she had to do was find one. She scanned the room, and found a set of crates in a corner. She leapt towards them, and tore the first one open.

Her heart sank.

Inside the crate, there were 5 pocket watches. They looked exactly the same. The only difference she could spot between them is that the hour was different. What was she gonna do! She could guess…but if she guessed wrong, she would die instantly!

"Oh god…I'm so screwed…"

Sighing, she resigned herself to searching the other crates. She found absolutely nothing. When she was ready to give up and die, she spotted something in the corner of a crate. A rubix cube with yet another paper taped to it. She tore it off.

'Orange.'

"Well thanks Sherlock."

The rubix cube itself was unusual. It had the usual sides and colors. However, there were black scribbles on top of every little square. But no matter! She began working on it as if her life depended on it, like it did.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh! Tsubaki's the one that likes this baloney!"

After roughly three minutes, which she was glad wasn't all the time she had left, she managed to get the Orange side perfectly lined. In it, she saw a number formed by the many scribbles.

'0455'

"Yay! I did it! …Hmm…Now what?"

Makoto went back to the coffin, and took out the pocket watches. She analyzed each of them carefully. Suddenly it clicked on her head.

"Aha! 0455 is 4:55! So I just need to pick the watch that points to that hour!"

And so she did, there was clearly a watch that pointed to 4:55. Seeing that she had about twenty seconds left, she gulped and placed the watch in the cavity, pushed the button, and…

_*click*_

"Ohmygosh Ohmygosh Ohmygosh I'M ALIVE! I'M ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!"

She fell to her knees, and took a big breath of relief, then sighed. Suddenly, the coffin opened before her. Inside it was…

"Major Jin Kisaragi!"

Indeed, the sleeping Major was inside the coffin. On top of his chest was a key, two cards, and a syringe. The cards had certain emblems on them. One looked like some sort of tree, and had a "IV" behind it. The other one had a sword-like thing, and a "VI". Makoto assumed it to be Jin's. The key was obviously the one they'd use to escape. So what was the syringe for? Maybe to wake up the Major? Makoto grabbed the syringe and prepared to pinch Jin when…

"You use that shit on me, you die."

"AAAAAAH, MAJOR! YOU'RE ALIVE!"

"Of course I'm alive you dumbass. Where is this and why the hell am I here? Is this your doing?"

"N-N-N-N-No! Of course not!"

_Makoto took her time explaining to Jin her current situation, and how she had happened to find him after defusing the coffin. She also mentioned how it was highly likely they were in an old train that should've been discontinued by now._

"Oh, I also found this card. I think it's yours, Jin."

"Hmph…I see. I, uh, appreciate preventing the coffin from blowing me the hell up."

"Do you have any plans?"

"Hah! It's obvious. We just keep going forward and beat the hell out o-Wait a minute."

"Is there something wrong?"

"Yukianesa….It's not with me. The bastard took it away!"

Mucro Alegresco: Yukianesa. Makoto had seen that sword with Jin in one way or another since she got into the academy. It was almost like a part of him by now. She wondered what would happen if someone tried to attack them?

"He did the same with my tonfas, so I assume we're not to use violence or brute force in this game."

"God damn hell. I'll get that bastard for this. Let's go, Lieutenant."

And so, Makoto and Jin used the Key to open up the door. All Makoto could do was wonder what sort of crap she would get herself in the moment she stepped into the other room.

'_Noel…Tsubaki…'_

_

* * *

_

_Oof. _And so, Chapter 2 is done. Only one pair of people left!_  
_


	3. Dread

It is time for more shenanigans on a train!

Disclaimer: I do not own Blazblue, Trains, or cool things.

* * *

On the outskirts of one of the Hierarchical cities, there was a humongous tree. Its sturdy branches used to support a small amount of swings. No one knew who had set them up, or why. But it had been those swings that led to many children meeting their best friends, and many hours of fun that were the foundations of many childhoods over the years. Sitting on one of them was a young boy, his purple clothing unmistakable. Carl Clover. He kept playing in the swings, speaking with his "sister", Ada. A purple robot that resembled a humanoid, Carl was entirely devoted to the happiness of his sister. It was that devotion that led him to seek Ragna the Bloodedge, owner of the Azure Grimoire. In the small hopes that, one day, his sister would be back to normal.

But that didn't matter now.

The day was beautiful, and it had been a long time since Carl had been able to enjoy such peace with his sister.

"The breeze is really nice, isn't it Sis?"

"…"

"Ha-ha. You're right. Maybe we should go play in a different place once in a while."

"…"

"What's wrong Sis? Is there someone here!"

Carl looked around, but he couldn't see anything. Suddenly, he heard a noise.

_*PZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT*_

"Wh-What is that?"

Using his ears to track the noise, he found a small white grenade near him. It seemed to be spewing something, but no gas appeared to be coming out of the can. For no reason at all, he began to feel quite weak, his knees gave up and he fell to the ground, like a marionette. He tried to call out for help. His voice broken, weak.

"S-Sis…? Help me…"

His vision began to get blurry, and he could only make out the sound of footsteps before he lost all consciousness.

* * *

Carl woke up in a crammed study room. He was on a chair, and his head was on top of a desk. Instead of scouting his surroundings, Carl immediately noticed his sister was not beside him.

"Sis! Ada! SIS!"

Carl panicked. Did the man take his sister? Had he been left alone? What was he gonna do? There was a paper in front of him. In the dim hope that it held answers for his troubles, he held it up, adjusted his glasses, and nervously began to read.

'Welcome, Carl Clover. I am aware that you are very…"close" to your sister. I am equally aware of how unstable you get without her. However, due to the nature of this game, "weapons" are forbidden for now. But fear not. Your sister is safe. If you wish to meet her again, all you must do is…step forward. Best of luck, Mr. Clover. And remember, a very common body temperature is 37° Celsius. "

Carl stopped. He didn't know what to think. His sister…his sister wasn't with him. And there was absolutely nothing he could do. What was going to happen to him without her? And how dare that letter refer to her as a "weapon"!

"A-Alright…All I have to do is get out of this place, right? I can do it, Sis…I can do it…"

Carl mustered all of his willpower and tried to remain as calm as possible. His sister was everything to him. Everything. And if he wanted to see her again, he'd have to trump this horrible excuse for a "game". He set his mind to work. The door was extremely small, and the desk seemed to be the only thing in it. He headed towards the door. There was a small keypad to enter a password. A small sign above it read

'F + C + K, all in C'

"Huh…For now, I can not make anything out of this hint. I shall come back later."

As he headed back to the desk, he spotted a box

'This must be what I require to get out of here…'

Carl put the box on top of the desk and opened it. Inside there were three top hats, very similar in shape to his. The first hat had a green "F" painted over it. The paper contained the number "96". The second hat, letter "C" clearly visible in it, possessed the number "47". And for the finale, the "K" hat's paper contained the number "301".

"F + C + K…right?"

Carl made the calculations in his head fairly quickly.

96 + 47 = 143

143 + 301 = 444

"444…? I wonder if that was intentional?"

In any case, Carl walked towards the door and inputted the number.

_*BZZT*_

"H-Huh? I was wrong?"

Suddenly, Carl recalled what the plate had clearly stated moments before.

" 'All in C.' Huh? I wonder what that is supposed to mean..."

Carl sat down on the desk, an began to think. For one reason or another, his view diverted itself to the note that had greeted him upon his awakening.

" 'Remember, a very common body temperature is 37° Celsius.' …What does that mean? I wonder…Celsius…C? Aha! I think I have grasped the meaning behind this puzzle!"

Carl walked up to the door. All in C, the note said. The conclusion he had reached was that the F number was in "Fahrenheit", and the K number was in "Kelvin". Therefore, all he had to do was convert them to the Celsius temperature and he'd be out of there in no time at all. One step closer to reaching his sister.

96 °F = (96 – 32) 64/1.8 = 36 °C, if you round it up.

301 K = 301 – 273 = 28 °C .

36 + 28 = 64. 64 + 47 = 111

"111? It must be a coincidence…"

Yet despite his doubts, entering 111 into the machine had brought upon his ears the quite desired *click* sound. It seemed the door was finally open. Carl opened it quickly and leapt through it.

"All right! Sis…Please wait for me! I'll be with you in no time at all!

* * *

He found himself at a hallway. It was much wider than the room he had been in before, but Carl had no time to pay attention to such insignificant details. He ran for a bit before coming across yet another problem. There was an intersection. He could either go through the door forward, or take a left turn. He searched in his pocket, and found a coin. He really did not want to place his sister's fate on a coin, but he had to hurry up. Just as he was about to throw the coin, the door in front of him opened. Out of the door came out a figure he would recognize anywhere. Doctor Litchi Faye Ling. She was, unexpectedly, in her doctor clothes. She used them in the clinic, but even then he was more accustomed to seeing her in her other "attire"…

"Carl! Carl is that you!"

"Miss Litchi! What are you doing here!"

Litchi crossed her arms and brought a hand to her chin.

"I was closing up the clinic, and suddenly, there was this white smoke…I woke up in the room behind me. Hey…Where is your sister?"

Carl couldn't speak, he diverted his gaze to the ground. Ada…

"I was with my sister…I got pulled into this very situation in the same manner as you…"

There was a small silence. Litchi walked over to Carl and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Carl. I know how you feel, but it will be alrig-"

"No! Shut up! You don't know how I feel!"

Carl shrugged off the hand off his shoulder violently. Litchi looked at Carl not with anger, but with a certain sadness in her eyes.

"Yes, I do. Carl. You see…A long time ago, I was very close to this person…let's call him "Lot". Just like you are to your sister. Maybe because I didn't try hard enough, or because I made a mistake…I lost that person. And now, only I can bring that person back. By stepping forward."

Carl looked over to Litchi's face. Her smile contradicted her sad eyes. He…he believed her. Even though he was sure it was not quite the same situation, he thought it would be alright to trust someone like her. And...it's not like he had any other choice.

"You are right, Miss Litchi…For my sister, I have to keep going forward…"

"Alright then. Now, since I assume you come from the door behind you, there is only one route to take, right?"

"You mean this hallway to the left? Well, there's no time to waste! Let's go!"

The pair's steps were all that could be heard as the ran through the hallway. In no time at all, they were faced with yet another sturdy metal door. On the far left of the hallway, there was a lever. The situation was the same for the right side. Carl walked over to the left side, and tried pulling it. Nothing happened. Litchi gracefully approached the right lever, yet the result was the same. Litchi was the first to speak.

"Well. I believe this is simple. We just have to pull both levers at the same time. It must have been a measure to make sure we came out of this hallway together."

Carl nodded and, with a gesture of his hand, motioned for Litchi to pull the lever. As the two of them pulled the lever, they heard a slight *click*. The door must have been unlocked.

"Excellent! Thank you, Miss Litchi!"

"You're welcome, Carl, but you did just as much as me. Let's keep going."

Carl approached the door, and opened it. He heard the familiar, annoying sound an old door makes as its being opened. There was absolute darkness in front of them. Carl hesitated a bit, but leapt in anyways. Litchi followed, albeit a bit nervous herself.

And then, the door closed behind them.

"Uah! Miss Litchi! I can't see anything in here!"

"Calm down, Carl. There must be some kind of switch in this room, somewhere…"

And her words were true. After walking a few steps, they found a light switch in the middle of the wall in front of them. Litchi pressed it, and soon the darkness disappeared. It was a simple room. All that could be seen were two doors at opposite ends of the quite small room.

"Well…Carl, I guess we have no choice but to go through one of these. Would you mind if I take the left?"

"Not at all. We need to hurry!"

Next to the doors, there were small boxes stuck to the wall. In them, there were calculators. They would probably be required to solve the problems. They nodded at each other and entered their respective rooms.

It was an extremely small room. All that could be made out was a small window to the right, in which he could see Miss Litchi, staring right back at him. And the famous machine in front of them, to input a password. There were papers taped to them, as usual. Carl wasted no time in ripping it off, and reading it.

'I am glad to see you both safe and sound. Otherwise, this would be very boring, would it not? Leaving this room will be simple. At the back of this page is a physics problem. Solve it, enter the password, and go through. Oh, by the way. Nerve Gas will begin flowing into the room. So hurry~!'

And as the letter said, the distinct sound of gas being dispensed into the room began to enter both of their ears. Carl, having no time to panic, flipped the page.

'A man kicks a ball in a 89 degree angle. What's the initial speed for both X and Y? Then, add them.'

"W-What in the world! I can not find the answer to this with just the angle!"

"Carl! Can you hear me? Did you get a chemistry problem as well?"¨

"N-No! I have been given a physics problem, but I am missing essential info! What was the problem given to you?"

"What is the energy required to transform water, in Kcal, if we know the specific heat is 1, from 10°C to 80°C? I seem to be missing the grams of water I'm transforming!"

"In my case, I've only been told that the angle is 89 degrees!"

"We both seem to be missing required info…is there anything on the floor near you!"

Carl looked around him, but there was nothing. Nothing at all. Litchi seemed to be in the same situation.

"W-What do we do! The nerve gas…Sis…"

"Alright, Carl, calm down! If we think this through, we're sure to find a way to find an answer to both of our problems!"

Carl crossed his arms. However, if everything he'd learnt was right, he wasn't sure if it was possible to find the answer, just like that. He stared at his paper, 89 degrees…

"Miss Litchi! I have an idea! I'm not sure it will work, but we must definitely try!"

"W-What is it, Carl?"

"Try using 89 grams in your equation! Hurry!"

And so she did, Litchi whipped out her calculator and did the proceedings in her head.

89g X 1cal/g x °C X (80°C – 10°C) 70°C

89 X 1 = 89.

89 X 70 = 6230 cal.

6230/1000 = 6.23 Kcal.

"Carl! I'm gonna try inputting the result on the keypad, okay!"

Since this specific dial had no periods, Litchi inputted a 623. The *click* that signaled the doors unlocking was like a chant from heaven. However…

"Carl! It unlocked! But what about you?"

"Don't worry Miss Litchi, I have an idea."

Carl himself took out his calculator and began to think.

"Let's see what happens if the initial speed is 6.23 m/s…"

Initial Speed of Y = Initial Speed X Sin of the Angle

ISY = 6.23 X Sin 89

"…Huh? It's pretty much 6.23 again…No matter!"

Initial Speed of X = Initial Speed X Cos of the Angle

ISX = 6.23 X Cos 89

ISX = ~0.11

"Now, I just add them."

6.23 + 0.11 = 6.34

Carl dialed up the 634 almost instantly in the small machine.

_*click*_

And with that, both of them let out a sigh of relief. The sound of the gas being dispensed stopped as well. They both opened their doors and moved through. It was once again a really small place, with just a door in the middle, a small box next to it. The only difference is that there wasn't a wall diving them this time. Litchi picked up, and opened the box. Inside, there were two keycards. Litchi handed one to him.

"This one has a symbol that sort-of resembles a marionette. Given that I've seen you with similar gadgets, I assume this is yours."

Carl thanked her, and accepted the card. On the back of it, he could see a "I". Inspecting Litchi's card, he saw a Yin-Yang like symbol, plus some ornaments. He could spot a "II" on the back of it.

Litchi brought a hand to her chin once again, and began to speak.

"I wonder…what place could this be? I don't know of any place that has rooms in a layout like this…"

"I don't know, Miss Litchi. But for now, for my sister and our sakes, let's just keep moving forward."

They both nodded, and Carl opened the door that would lead them to their next "task". All Carl could think was of his sister. Was she really safe? Would he see her again? Those thoughts were the only things stopping him from giving up. He couldn't give up. And he wouldn't.

* * *

I hope you liked it. Finally, the 3 groups will meet! Please, constructive reviews are appreciated :3


	4. Branches

Disclaimer: I don't own Blazblue, libraries, nor keycards.

* * *

Steps. Steps were all that could be heard in the narrow hallway Ragna and Taokaka were walking through. They had to turn to the right, and Ragna signaled for Taokaka to stay still. Ragna clutched the crowbar in his hands firmly, and…

"HUAAAAAAARGH!"

Ragna leapt, crowbar in hand, ready to strike anything in his way, but there was nothing. Only a door, with two machines considerably apart from each other. They seemed like they required keycards to activate.

"Good guy? Is the tension getting to your head meow? Do you wanna nap meow?"

"Shut up Tao, I was just being, uh, cautious."

"Suuuuuure."

Ragna and Taokaka casually slid their keycards into the machines, and heard the now too familiar *click* of the door unlocking. Taokaka, being Taokaka, was the first to barge in. Ragna reached his hand and managed to grab her arm.

"Hey! Shit, that could be dangerous!"

"Meow…Good guy, don't you get it? If the Bad Guy wanted to kill us, he wouldn't give us a chance to play meow! It's alright, mew."

"Uh…well…"

Ragna was dumbfounded. Maybe Taokaka, as hard as it was to admit, was right? Maybe there was nothing to fear in moving forward. What would be the point then? Taking a leap of faith, he dragged Taokaka through the door. On the other side, there was a medium-sized room. All it had in the middle was a round table, completely empty, barring the thin white sheets covering it.. Ragna looked around. Not counting the one they had come through, there were five doors. One in front of him, one to his right, and three to his left.

"Well shit, what do we do now, Tao?"

"I dunno."

Having nowhere left to go, they sat on two of the six chairs surrounding the round table. Roughly 5 minutes passed in which the most eventful thing was Taokaka drawing a face on the table, with her nails. Ragna was beginning to feel quite uneasy at the situation.

"Well, I suppose we should take a door, shouldn't we?"

"Which one to take, meow? There're so manyyyy!"

"I don't know! Fuck let's just like go through one randomly!"

But just then, the door in front of Ragna opened. Through it came two persons Ragna did not expect to meet in here. At all. It was that purple clothed boy with a giant puppet that wouldn't stop getting on his way and starting shit. Behind him was a, quite well endowed, woman in doctor clothes. It took Ragna a bit to recognize her, but it was definitely that doctor from Orient Town. He had only met her once, to discuss the fate of a certain black…thing. He wasn't really sure.

"SHORTY! BOOBIE LADYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

Taokaka leapt through the air, like a hypersonic bullet, and landed her face in Litchi's bosom, at a perfect angle. She then took her time playing with them in the same childish way she always did. Litchi was clearly not comfortable with her fondling, and pushed her away.

"T-Tao! What are you doing here! And stop doing that! This is no place to be feeling me up!"

"Ah…Miss Kitty? What brings you to this awful place?"

For some reason, the two of them had been too caught up talking with Taokaka to notice him. This angered him, a lot.

"Hey! What the shit! I'm not painted in the wall you know!"

Carl and Litchi diverted their gazes to him. There was an awkward silence.

"The Grim Reaper…"

"…Ragna the Bloodedge!"

"Yeah, no shit. What are you two doing here?"

"We could ask you the same thing."

"Well, if you really want to know…Tao and I were eating at this restaurant…and well shit, I woke up here."

"That's right meow! Tao thinks the food was SO GOOD we were knocked out!"

"Hmm…Well. I was just done with my last patient, and as I was closing up the clinic I heard a weird noise. By the time I realized what it was, there was this white smoke all around me…I passed out."

"I…I was with my…sister…and we experienced the same situation…"

"Shorty? Sis Girl is not with you! Where could she be, meow?"

"On the room I woke up in, there was a letter…it says that if we get to the end of this, I shall be able to see my sister again…"

And just then, another door opened. While Taokaka and Litchi didn't have any relation to any of the two people that walked through the door, Ragna and Carl's eyes went wide with surprise. Mostly Ragna's. Boy was he in deep shit.

"M-Makoto! Jin Kisaragi!"

"Fucking shit..."

_"Brooooother~! BROOOOOOTHER~!"_

"Is that you, Carl?"

Makoto and Jin both ran towards the group, although both had different objectives. Makoto zoomed past at unbelievable speeds, and tackled Carl playfully. She, like she always did when she saw him, couldn't resist his adorableness. She began pulling on Carl's cheeks, maybe a bit too much.

"M-Makoto…you're hurting me…"

"Ohmygosh, I'm sorry! It's just that you're soooo cute"

And with that said, she ceased the cheek pulling, and began the way-too-tight hugs. Carl felt his eyes were going to pop out from the sheer force of her arms.

"I-I can not breathe…"

While Makoto kept up her violent greeting, Taokaka began to laugh and decided to join in. The cheery atmosphere surrounding Makoto was a sharp contrast to the scenario that was going on right before them. Ragna held up his crowbar, ready to beat the living shit out of Jin if he tried anything. Meanwhile, Jin just stared at his brother in that creepy seductive bloodlusting way.

"Jin…I don't have time for your shit today. I think you're aware of that!"

"Brother! You're so cold…We haven't seen each other in so long!"

"We saw each other like two fucking weeks ago, you know!"

"But that's such a long time!"

"Oh, shut up! We don't have time to fight right now anyways!"

And just then, he saw Jin clear his throat. After that, the words he said were said in a much deeper, less homo-erotic creepy way. Ragna scratched his head, and began wondering which of the two was his actual voice.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm more than well aware of that. Yukianesa's gone after all…and you only have that crowbar with you. Yes…I think that, against my wishes, we'll have to wait until after this to go at it."

"Holy shit…So you do have a brain in that head of yours!"

"You're so mean, brother…"

"Brother?"

Albeit a bit slowly, everyone in the room (barring Taokaka, of course) showed many signs of surprise. Not one of them was aware that Jin Kisaragi and Ragna the Bloodedge were related!

"Jin…you're the brother of this hot stud?"

For a moment, Jin looked like he was about to shout something, but he quickly cleared his throat.

"Y-Yes…he is my _BROTHEEEEEER~! _…*Ahem* But that's not important now you dumbass, we have to get out of here."

"Well EXCUSE ME, PRINCESS. How do you propose we get outta here, Major?"

"What did you just sa-"

But before an argument could begin, a voice echoed across the room. It's source seemed to be a pair of speakers located below the desk, or so it seemed. It was a monotone, computer-processed voice. Probably a recording, or the person was using some sort of voice altering device.

"Welcome. I assume all six are here. If not, then that is most unfortunate, it'd mean you have already lost all hope of success. You may have all noticed, in one of the walls in this room there are three doors. To open each you need a combination of two numbers. An even, and an odd number. You may all recall obtaining keycards in previous events. Believe it or not, these are not what you will be using. Instead, there is a fingerprint recognition device in the wall next to each door. Furthermore, do not even think for a second you can all go through one door, for in each door there is an item that will be essential for your progress. Once you go through a door, you cannot come back to this room. I pray for your success."

And then, the voice stopped. The room was silent (barring Taokaka, of course, who was making quite the ruckus while jumping around) as the group pondered whether to believe the voice or not. Litchi broke the silence.

"Well…you all do have your keycards right? Mind putting them in the table?"

And so, everyone pulled out the cards from their pockets, and placed them in the table. Litchi pulled out a pencil from her hair and began scribbling on the table.

"Alright. It seems the odd numbers are Carl (I), the Grim Reaper (III), and Tao (V)."

"It's Ragna goddammit."

"Ah! Excuse me. Ragna it is then. On the other side of the numbers, we have myself (II), the young lady (IV), and…Jin (VI), was it?"

Jin just made a small 'hmph' noise, while Makoto introduced herself to Litchi.

"Obviously, this means there are only a few combinations possible. I shall write them down now."

-Carl/Litchi, Ragna/Makoto, Taokaka/Jin

-Carl/Litchi, Ragna/Jin, Taokaka/Makoto

-Carl/Jin, Ragna/Makoto, Taokaka/Litchi

-Carl/Jin, Ragna/Litchi, Taokaka/Makoto

-Carl/Makoto, Ragna/Jin, Taokaka/Litchi

-Carl/Makoto, Ragna/Litchi, Taokaka/Jin

"I think those are the obvious pairs. So, which one is it going to be? We should hurry up."

Before anyone could say anything, Taokaka flew through the air and fell on top of Litchi.

"MEOW! Tao wants to go with the Boobie Lady! Please please please PLEAAAAASE!"

Litchi threw Taokaka from her and stood up, dusting off the dirt from her clothes.

"Alright Tao, I'll go with you. But! You're going to have to behave!"

"Meow...fine. You can be so boring sometimes, meow!"

"But…Miss Litchi…"

Litchi turned around and met with Carl's sad, disappointed face. That's right! She couldn't leave the poor kid alone...But just then, Makoto kneeled over and gave Carl a few reassuring pats on the shoulder.

"You should come with me, Carl! We gotta do lotsa catchin up! I haven't seen you in yeaaaars!"

Makoto's cheerfulness seemed to be something good in such a dire situation. After some pondering, Carl nodded and decided that he would tag along with Makoto for a while. That left only a pair left…

"Oh fuck, no. Shit you can't leave me alone with that son of a bitch! Tao! Change places with me!"

But Taokaka didn't seem like she was willing to trade places, and Carl's glare seemed to hold the same feeling.

"*chuckle* Come on, _BROOOOTHER!_ It'll be fun! I promise I won't do...much."

"PLEASE!"

"Sorry Good Guy! You're gonna have to learn to live with your…*meow* _NIIIIIISAN!_"

"Fuck you, Tao."

Ragna didn't want to give up, but it seemed like there was nothing he could do in this situation. Jin had already gotten clingy, grabbing his arm way tighter than anyone should. They all walked to separate doors. Makoto began an ,err, inspiring war cry? Her gleaming face seemed to suggest that's what she thought it was, at least.

"Okay you all! Let's meet up soon and get outta this train! GOGOGOOOOOOOO~!"

Carl and Litchi's faces showed signs of confusion, they seemed to be unaware that this was a train. Or was it really? No one could really be sure. But no time for that, they all placed their hands on the device and the doors opened. Before entering, Carl sent Litchi a small "good luck" sign. And, smiling, went into the door with Makoto. Litchi smiled, and went into her door as well. Only Ragna and Jin were left.

"*sigh* Well Jin, let's get this shit over with."

"Sure thing, _BROOOOTHER~!"_

"You have to stop fucking doing that."

* * *

And so, the two of them went through the door. On the other side, there was a hallway, like always. An awkward silence could be felt in the room as they walked. The hallway did a turn to the left, and then to the right after a while. Soon, they reached the next door of this travesty the kidnapper had the guts to refer to as a game. Jin chuckled in that really high pitched voice that irked Ragna to no end.

"I'm gonna open the door, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, hurry up."

Jin turned the handle, and the door began, giving way to the familiar metal on metal sound Ragna had heard on the other rooms. The brothers went inside. It seemed like a library, it was pretty much a room filled to the brim with bookshelves, and a round table with chairs around it. At the other end of the room, there was a door with the now-expected paper taped to the device that would help them escape. Jin tore it off violently and began to read it.

'The way to escape this room is simple. There are 4 papers in this room, with a purple letter painted onto a side of them. Simply add them all to find the answer. Oh, by the way, you have forty minutes, otherwise the room will get…quite hot. I wish you the best of luck.'

Right then, on a small monitor above the door, a timer began to run.

"Shit! Let's get moving, Jin!"

"I know."

They split up. Ragna thought about throwing all the books in the floor, but if it was that east the time limit would be much shorter. So Ragna began with the bookshelf at the corner, to the left of the door. They were geography books. Ragna had always wondered why they even kept them around, if most of the world was now covered in seithr. In any case, Ragna couldn't find any paper in any of the books. Jin, who was dribbling over the history section, seemed to be having trouble as well. Ragna hurried up to the next bookshelf. This seemed to be packed with books about various religions. On the book about Hinduism, Ragna seemed to spot a piece of paper sticking out.

"Hey Jin! I found one! It has a purple "D" on the back!"

"Hehe…I just found one with the letter "A" myself…Although it seems to have no number on the back."

Ragna flipped the page and, indeed, there was nothing at its back.

'Shit! Well…no matter, I'll just discuss it with Jin when we find the other two.'

And so, they plowed through Math, Science, Culture, Programming, Cooking, almost every single subject one could think of. Ragna had found yet another letter "D" in one of the Science books, but they couldn't seem to find the last one. The clock was already on its last ten minutes… Ragna finally reached the Philosophy section.

"Hmm…What is this..."The Theory of the Continuum Shift"? What the hell?"

"Oh…you haven't heard of it, brother?"

Ragna almost felt his heart come out of his throat when he heard Jin's voice next to his ear.

"Holy shit! Don't do that okay? Ever! Goddammit!"

"…Calm down, Brother."

"You calm down!"

"In any case…you don't know about it?"

"Well…uh, well no. I don't really give a shit about philosophy."

"*chuckle* You say that, despite fearing Ghosts…"

"Shut the hell up and tell me what it is!"

"*Ahem, very well. You see…the best way to explain the theory is with a river. Let's say we are on this train right now. What is the problem we're facing right now?"

"No shit. If we don't find that paper, we're going to be fucking burnt alive."

"Well. Think of this room as a river. There are two possibilities. We find the paper and escape, or we don't, or fail to solve the problem, and die. Here, the river splits into path A, and path B. Are you following me?"

"Yeah…is that it?"

Jin crossed his arms, and thought for a bit before continuing his explanation.

"Not exactly. In my example, there was just one branch. But in this theory, there are countless, infinite amounts of possibilities. For example, in one branch, Yukianesa may not have been taken from me, and I could have…used it. In another branch, maybe I did not get kidnapped, but someone else. The theory simply states that anything can happen at any time, because the world is constantly splitting into branches."

"Sounds crazy and stupid. Anything can happen at any time, and you don't need realities to be splitting every time a choice can be made for that."

"But what if you could control the shifts? What if you could decide which path to live in? The theory looks into the possibility of being able to observe all the branches, and then choosing one to ensure you always get the result you want. Kind of like looping an entire day until everything goes the way you want it to."

"Sounds like crazy shit, again. Any proof of it yet?"

"Well…no."

"See? Bunch of bullshit."

And then, there was an announcement made from a speaker Ragna and Jin couldn't locate.

"There are 4 minutes remaining."

"SHIT! We wasted too much time talking about this crap! Shit!"

"Brother! That book you're holding…"

Ragna glanced at the book. A paper seemed to be sticking out from it. Ragna pulled it out right away. It had the letter "E" on it. The two of them hurried to the machine.

"Well, we have a "D" an "E", an "A and a "D"…woah…that's not very reassuring. What do we do Jin?"

"I…don't know."

"Well think! We only have three minutes!"

The two of them stood there, silent, thinking. Ragna saw that letters A through F could be inputted, so he tried inputting DEAD, and other combinations, but no luck. He also thought of transforming the letters into the ones they are on the alphabet…

A = 1, D= 4, E= 5.

4 + 5 + 1 +4 = 14.

But no luck. The code didn't work.

"Damn! It's not the alphabet! Nor a word!"

"Wait! I just got an idea! Do you know what Hexadecimal is? Hex? Base 16?"

"Err…No."

"Well, there's no time! So let me put it this way. In Hexadecimal, the symbols used are these:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A , B ,C , D, E , and F"

"Huh? And what do I make of that?"

"Well, try replacing the letters with the numbers that'd come next!"

And this got Ragna's brain thinking. If what Jin said was true, then…

A = 10, B = 11, C = 12, D = 13, E = 14, F = 15.

"I get what you're trying to say… so you mean we should add them like that?"

13 + 14 + 10 + 13 = 50

"Alright! I'm inputting the result in!"

Ragna dialed the 50 in, but it still didn't work. The timer was displaying that only one minute was left.

"Shit! SHIT! IT'S NOT WORKING!"

"Maybe we need to change 50 to hexadecimal as well?"

Jin had no time to explain, so he just hurried up to the door.

"50 – 16 = 34 – 16 = 18 – 16 = 2. So 50 in hexadecimal would be 32."

"Don't you mean 2? Did you forget how to subtract?"

"There's no time, Okay? If you really wanna know you're gonna have to research i-"

"OKAY OKAY MOVE IT! NOW!"

Jin dialed up the 32 in the machine and…

_*click*_

The door opened, and the timer stopped. The pair let out a big sigh of relief. The dialing device made a weird sound, and an old-school key fell to the floor. Ragna picked it up. This had to be the 'item essential to their success'. But he just wanted to get out of that room right away.

"I gotta say, you did pretty well, Jin. Didn't know you knew that kinda shit."

"*chuckle* Well, there isn't anything interesting to do at the NOL…"

The two, after resting for a bit, decided to keep moving forward. This was the third puzzle Ragna had solved, and he was beginning to get irritated. How long would they have to keep up this ridiculous game? He hoped Taokaka had gotten an easier puzzle, or maybe they WOULD be trapped in here after all…


	5. Progress

I apologize for the long wait, and that this chapter isn't one of the longest I've written. December is quite the busy month, indeed! And I will even be traveling to Brazil soon! But I managed to find time to write this chapter for you all, And I hope you can enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Blazblue, Chemistry, or whatever

* * *

The things Makoto had known about Carl before his sudden leave at the Academy were not many. The day she met him was during a student council meeting, where he had appeared to bring Jin some papers. Then, his adorable features had made it impossible for Makoto to resist the urges to squeeze his cheeks and hug him until he began complaining of severe pain. Jin, sighing, had to intervene before Carl required medical attention. The Carl from then and the current Carl were similar in that adorable appearance and his overly polite mannerisms, but…Makoto was sure something was different about him. He looked sad, troubled. As the two walked down the hallway, Makoto was determined to get some answers out of him, even if this wasn't the best time. Small talk would be enough for now.

"Say, Carl? What have ya been up to these days?"

"…Well, if you must know, I have taken on the job of Vigilante. I am…searching for something."

"VIGILANTE! Carl! It's…kinda difficult to imagine you as a Vigilante…"

"…Are you implying something, Miss Makoto?"

Carl's gaze was that of a Lion whose pride had been hurt. Makoto didn't like the feeling it gave her.

At all.

"N-Nononononono! You're perfect for the job with that hat and all! Ehehehe…and just call me Makoto, mmkay?"

"...If you say so."

Soon, they were before another of the dreaded doors. Carl nodded, Makoto smiled, and put her hand on the doorknob.

It seemed like a living room. A big one. There were drawers, a desk, shelves, a vanity, couches, even certain doors that led to a small bedroom and one that led to the bathroom. There was even a piano! At another end of the room, there seemed to be another door, probably the exit. Next to the door were three rectangular slots, like something was meant to be put in them. Which was probably the case anyways. However, there was no note attached anywhere.

"Strange. There is generally a note or clue attached to the means of our escape…"

As if to answer Carl's question, a speaker located on the ceiling of the room began to speak.

"40 minutes before incineration. Find the boxes, get the solution to this predicament."

And with that simple command, a siren rang out to signal the beginning of the countdown. Makoto didn't take long to enter full-panic mode.

"Nyah! But of course! It couldn't be easy and simple! They HAVE to find a way to fit in some death threat and problems and puzzles and death threats again!"

"W-Well, then let us begin our search before we are burnt to a crisp!"

Three slots meant three boxes, it was simple enough. And forty minutes was more than enough time. But the room was vast, and the boxes were not in any of the usual hiding places for things. Well, "the usual" hiding place for things would be what you would expect in a game of hide and seek. Under the bed, under the sofa, in the vanity's drawers or mild things in that fashion. Not even in the fireplace, which one would considert an ideal hiding spot for a box.

"Carl! This isn't working out…We need to think big!"

"What do you mean when you say "Think Big", Makoto…?"

"This here is a game of LIFE OR DEATH! The creeper wouldn't just, ya know, put it under a pillow! We have to do wacky things, okay? FOLLOW ME!"

Makoto firmly walked towards the bathroom. Carl followed shortly after, curious as to what was going on in the head of his friend.

"See this toilet here? HEEYAAAAAAAAAH!"

Makoto punched the Toilet, and the sheer strength of her attack shattered it to pieces. Where the water tank would have been before being blown up was one of the boxes they were meant to find.

"Makoto! That was incredibly amazing! …And it seemed painful as well."

"Nyahaha, don't mention it! A mere toilet can't hurt my hands! Well, I got the box, so let's head back to the living room."

And so they did. The box was more like a small, blue chest. There was a paper as per usual with the clue on the correct number to enter into the electronic lock.

"Hmm, We should start working on this, should we not?"

"Nah, I say find all the boxes first, that will make everything easier."

"If you think so, I suppose it makes some sense."

And so, they renewed their search. Maybe something in this travesty had changed the definition of the word Search in Makoto's head, because Carl was almost sure her "search" consisted of repeatedly punching vases and furnace into smithereens. Not that he could complain at all. After all, it was an effective tactic. After crumbling the Piano down, they had found yet one more box. Carl was beginning to worry a bit. Wouldn't Makoto's hands get hurt from such actions? Maybe her race was much sturdier than they seemed. He didn't even notice time fly while thinking about these trivial things when Makoto called him out.

"Yo, Carl! What else should I smash? There's no furniture left!"

"Ah, Makoto…you have completely trashed the place…Even the bed…"

"That doesn't matter! We're missing one box and there's nothing to crush!"

While he did not really agree with her methods, there was some truth to her words. She had smashed every piece of…everything in the room to shambles, but they were missing one box. What was left to search? The only logical conclusion was the walls. There were some small lamps and paintings all over the room.

"Excuse me, Makoto. Could you help me take out the paintings off the walls? Maybe there is something interesting beneath one of them."

It was just a matter of time before they found the remaining box, behind a painting of one of the hierarchical cities. Now, they had the three boxes, and they were the only thing between them and the other side of the door.

"Warning. 15 Minutes left before incineration."

"Say, Makoto, would you mind trying to break the boxes open?"

"Silly Carl! Of course I already did that! I swear to gosh these things must be made of Gold! I couldn't break 'em open."

"Makoto…Gold is not really that sturdy compared to all you've destroyed, are you aware?"

"You know what I meant, though! Eheheh."

But enough of that, it was time to crack open the boxes and get the hell out of that place. Time for box one, then.

Log5 (x + 3) + Log5 (x – 2) = Log5 6

"NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"

"W-What's wrong Makoto?"

"W-Wah…I flunked Math…"

" *chuckle* That is so something you would say, Makoto. In that case, do leave it to me."

Carl cracked his fist, adjusted his glasses, and began to quickly solve the problem in his head.

Log5 (x + 3) + Log5 (x – 2) = Log5 6

Log5 (x + 3) (x – 2) = Log5 6

(x + 3) (x – 2) = 6

xˆ2 + x – 6 = 6

xˆ2 + x = 12

xˆ2 + x – 12

"Uh Oh...this is one of those problems in which one would normally require a calculator. Oh well, I shall have to use logic. It's a fairly simple problem after all."

xˆ2 + x – 12

xˆ2 = 12 – x

(3)ˆ2 = 12 – 3

9 = 9

"And there we go, Makoto. The answer seems to be the number 9."

"Don't 'cha think it's weird? A single digit password?"

"Well, given our situation, I don't think we would randomly start mashing combinations, now would we?"

"WARNING. 10 MINUTES BEFORE INCINERATION."

The voice was now…angrier? It surely let them know that they had to hurry if they were to get out of this alive. They opened the box and found one of the rectangular slots…and a periodic table. No time to think about that! They quickly moved on to the question on the next box.

CaCO3 + 2 H3PO4 - Ca3 (PO4)2 + 3CO2 + H2O

"…Carl...?"

"...Yes?..."

"...I flunked Chem too..."

"…I figured…"

Well then, off to work.

"Let us see…how much of each element is on each side?"

Left:

Ca: 1

C: 1

O: 11

H: 6

P: 2

Right:

Ca: 3

C: 3

O: 15

H: 2

P: 2

"Let's see...the Calcium does not match..."

**3** CaCO3 + 2 H3PO4 - Ca3 (PO4)2 + 3CO2 + H2O

"Now there are 3 Ca on both sides...and even the same amount of C. Ah…But now the Oxygen isn't right."

L: 17 / R: 15

"And now that I think of it, there's too little Hydrogen on the right as well…Hmm."

**3** CaCO3 + 2 H3PO4 - Ca3 (PO4)2 + 3CO2 + **3 **H2O

"Now both the Hydrogen and Oxygen should be in the same amounts. I think this is it."

Carl compared the amounts in the paper once more

Ca. L: 3/R:3

C. L: 3/R: 3

O. L: 17/ R: 17

H. L: 6/ R: 6

P. L: 2/R: 2

"Prodigious! It's done."

"Umm...Carl? That's fine 'n all but how do we use this as a code?"

"Huh…W-Well…Let's just add up the total of atoms there are in this equation!"

3 + 3 + 17 + 6 + 2 = 31

And as Carl pressed the enter key, the Box opened. One key down.

"WARNING, 5 MINUTES BEFORE INCINERATION!"

"L-Let's hurry, Carl!"

In the next paper, the problem was something along the lines of this:

Hf + Ag + Me

"What?"

"…Makoto, since it seems we don't have much time, could you hand me the periodic table?"

Hf was element number 72. Ag, 47. And Me, 115.

115 + 47 + 72 = 234.

*BZZT*

"Huh? Carl! It didn't work!"

"WARNING! 3 MINUTES BEFORE INCINERATION!"

"It's okay, Makoto. I figured that was not the answer. It would be far too simple. But I truly believe the last problem was the most difficult. I believe we need to add up something else. Maybe their weight..."

Hf = 178. Ag = 197. Me = 279.

178 + 197 + 279 = 654.

*click*

"You did it, Carl! You're SO AMAZING! I WANT TO HUG YOU TO DEATH!"

And she did, she was short of strangling poor Carl, who could barely breathe.

"M-Makoto…There is not time…for this…"

"Oh! Right, you're right. Come on, let's get outta here!"

Inside the box was the last slot they needed to escape, and a key. Carl deduced it must've something to do with what the voice had said back in the big room. But no matter, they put the slots in place, and the door willingly opened. They had no wish to stay in that place any longer.

"Huff…What a relief it is to be out of that place."

"It is, is it not?..."

As they walked down the hallway, Makoto stared down at Carl. His eyes were sad, and troubled, just like before they entered the previous room. She needed to know what was happening to him, and she needed to know it sooner rather than later.

"Carl…I've been meaning to ask this for a while, but are you okay? You…You've changed."

"…"

They kept walking down the hallway, and came up to yet another door that required their fingerprints to pass.

"Carl! I'm not opening this door until you tell me what happened to you!"

"What is it to you? Why do you care! It's none of your business!"

"What do you mean it's none of my business? We're friends!"

"…You wouldn't understand…"

"How can you know that, if you're not even willing to tell me?"

"….."

"Come on, Carl!"

"Sis…It's my sister…"

"Huh?"

"My father…Relius Clover…he…he did that to my sister…"

"Relius? Sir Relius is your father? I never knew he was a Clover…"

"He creates things…like and architect, you'd know…You're on the intelligence department…"

"Yeah. His skill is said to be without equal."

"He…He changed my sister! Now she can only talk to me! Now everyone thinks she's not human!"

"Carl…"

"I WILL get out of this terrible excuse for a prank, and I WILL get my sister back! And I WILL see that my father pays! Do you get it now? Don't meddle in my business! Now open that door immediately!"

"…"

Makoto wasn't sure what she was supposed to say. The poor kid talked about his sister so much back at the academy. His face always glower when telling stories of their pranks, or a drawing they had made…Carl loved his sister more than anything else in the world, and he had lost her because of his father. Makoto couldn't say anything because Carl was right. She couldn't understand. She hadn't lost anyone in such a brutal manner. She placed her hand on the scanner.

"I'll help you, Carl. You said it, I'm from the intel department. I'm gonna help you bring your sister to how she was."

"Makoto…"

But now, the important thing was getting out of this horrible place. Makoto had things to live for as well, and she wasn't going to give up either. She wasn't sure, but she swore she could hear Carl mutter something under his breath.

"Thank you…"

* * *

And there we go! I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. Writing Tao and Litchi together should prove rather fun.


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